The Cables of Elista

2/14/2007 – Some time ago pictures surfaced, purporting to show computer cables hidden in the ceiling of a toilet used by Vladimir Kramnik during the world championship match in Elista last October. They were, we were told, reported to the authorities, who were keen to hush things up. In fact the Topalov team was put under considerable pressure (Silvio Danailov: "I was in fear for my life"). Pictures and story.

Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2019 with 7.6 million games and more than 70,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!

The Cables of Elista

A month ago we received pictures from Veselin Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov
purporting to show computer cables that were discovered in the ceiling of the
bathroom used by Vladimir Kramnik during the world championship match in Elista.
We chose not to publish the pictures or a story before they had been reported
in a major news outlet. In the meantime a book entitled "Toilet
War" has appeared (we will be reviewing it soon), published in a first
run of 20,000 copies. And on Monday the Veselin
Topalov web site carried the pictures, together with a taunt: "Chessbase
did not want to publish these facts due to unknown reasons. At the same time
they published two articles and one video against Mr. Danailov and Mr. Topalov
that are simple speculations."

Well, here, for what they are worth, are The Pictures.

The ceiling in Kramnik's bathroom is opened, it reveals a cable.

Detail. Click the picture to enlarge to the original resolution.

A second picture of the cables in Kramnik's bathroom

Detail. Click to enlarge to the original resolution

The Exif information of the original pictures, which were sent to us by Danailov,
reveal that they were taken on October 1st 2006 at 13:20:00h and 13:20:12h camera
time, i.e. twelve seconds apart. The camera was an Olympus Model C300Z, D550Z.
Exposure time 1/30 second, F-number 2.90, focal length 6.00 mm, ISO speed 100,
flash fired. The images were managed by Paint Shop Photo Album version 5.22,
but there is no evidence of any post processing. In the second picture the fact
that the upper cables seem to penetrate the fingers is not suspicious: the camera
merged ambient light with light from the flash. The hand was probably moving
downwards.

Danailov tells us that the pictures were taken by "our technical specialists
during the official inspection of the Kramnik bathroom on October 1st."
He provided the protocol of the inspection together with a translation.

Report on the inspection of the rest room and the toilet of
Mr. Vladimir Kramnik

The Committee members: S. Danailov, D. Djonkov, R. Ivanov Gospodinov
(representatives of the Topalov team) in the presence of the Deputy Chief
Arbiter P. Nikolopoulos, the Chair of the Executive Committee V.Bovaev
carried out an inspection of the rest room and toilet of Mr. Vladimir
Kramnik.

The inspection included:

Dismantling of two thirds of the suspended ceiling in the bathroom.
An UTP-5 cable was discovered as a result of the dismantling and removed
upon agreement by the two parties. The suspended ceiling parts were
installed after the inspection.

Dismantling of the instantaneous water heater whose power was cut
off, then restored and it was sealed.

A chipped wall tile under the sink was filled with polyurethane.

Opening and check of the ventilation shaft in the toilet wall which
was filled at the request of the Bulgarian side.

Sealing of the cables which remained after dismantling of the shower
cabin, sealing of the sewer hole used for the shower cabin.

All toilet walls were checked using a special device by the Bulgarian
experts.

Upon completion of the above actions the entrance door to the toilet
was sealed.

The rest room, which is under constant video surveillance, was carefully
inspected by the experts of the Bulgarian side.

Upon request by the Bulgarian side the video surveillance of the Kramnik
rest room will be carried out 24 hours starting at 15.00 today, 1 October
2006.
The video tapes will only be watched by Mr. Nikolopoulos who shall not
provide them to third parties.

The inspection took place on 1 October 2006 from 13.00 to 15.00. The
room of Mr. Kramnik fully complies with all conditions for its future
use. The parties are satisfied with the inspection results.

"Why," we asked Silvio Danailov, "did you not present the pictures
at the time to the authorities and the press to prove that there was a computer
connection in the bathroom?" His reply: "We tried to organize a press
conference and to show what we found in the bathroom of Kramnik, but they told
us very clearly: if we did that the match would be terminated immediately. In
that case we would have had problems. The airport was closed and these people
were desperate. Some days earlier they had told us that the local police may
enter in our house with an official order to check if we have material which
could threaten the security of Russia. Sounds crazy, but if you were there you
would feel differently. The pressure was huge, and we decide to shut up. The
danger was real. I do not joke about this kind of thing."

Danailov also provided us with a scan of a letter written by the second Appeals
Committee (the first had been fired by Ilyumzhinov) after the cables had been
found.

"If Vega and Kutin resigned on October 4th from the Appeals Committee,"
we asked Danailov, "how is it that nobody heard about this? We thought
that they had remained part of the Appeals Committee to the end." To this
Silvio answered: "At the time when Vega and Kutin resigned, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
was not in Elista. The airport was closed and they could not leave. I know that
they decided to wait for Kirsan and to present the resignation personally to
him. What happened after that I don't know. I only know that the organizers
hid the letter from the press. The reasons were obvious."

Members of the second Elista Appeals Committee Jorge Vega and Boris Kutin

We asked Jorge Vega and Boris Kutin about this letter of resignation. They
were surprised that it had surfaced and confirmed that it had been written (by
Vega) and signed. But, they said, it was a "draft" which they had
taken to President Ilyumzhinov – an offer to resign. After the discussion
they had torn it up. "The letter does not exist for us," said Kutin.
Both said they had not seen the cables in the bathroom, and drew our attention
to one more relevant item of information: until round five of the world championship
match in Elista the rest and bathrooms of the players switched after every game,
which each player using the facilities on his side of the board.

In an interview that appeared on November 21 2006 in the Bulgarian newspaper
Standart Danailov describes the situation quite vividly: "I was
in fear for my life. They came to me and said: 'Be careful! You will have problems!'
They also told us: 'The police will search your house and your baggage.' Once
they get in they could leave there whatever you can think of – drugs and
everything. Our life turned into a nightmare... They offered me money to continue
the match when the score was 3-1 for Kramnik. The sum was quite substantial.
They wanted to make us give up the victory in game five, however I was not offered
money for the cable." Danailov also talks about a possible doping sting
planned by the Russian authorities. You can read all about it in the Standart
interview.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov himself has told us that the world championship venue was
a normal utility building, where cables in the ceiling were not the least bit
unusual. And during a press
conference at the ACP tournament in Odessa he said: "If you break open
a wall, any wall, you’ll find tubes, cables, metal works, etc. After the
wall in the toilet room was demolished everything inside and around it was thoroughly
examined, and all parties signed the protocol stating that the issue is cleared
and all complaints are recalled. The papers are in the FIDE office in Elista."

Frederic Friedel

Addendum

"Coincidences" is the title of an article that has appeared on the
Veselin Topalov semi-official
web site. "In the last several months", it says, "the mud
throwing against Topalov has continued without an obvious reason. It is time
to put the pieces on the table and connect the puzzle. Some parts of it we will
analyze, some we will leave for the audience to think about it, but the picture
is starting to get clear."

On the ACP and the Grand Slam: "It is an organization
that was created by Lautier, Hensel, Kramnik, Tregubov and Skripchenko several
years ago. Since then it has tried many times to organize something professional,
without any particular success. At the same time Mr. Danailov without any big
organization standing behind him, was able to organize the Grand
Slam and make the step chess needed to take long time ago.

Why was a speculative video was published in Kommersant just a few days before
the start of the ACP rapid tournament in Odessa, Ukraine? We really hope the
two things have nothing in common and this is a simple coincidence.

During Corus 2007 the attacks [against Topalov/Danailov] continued. One of
the possibilities is that they were directed against the Grand Slam. However,
there were also many people who just cannot accept that the number one player
is not the world champion. It was obvious how Topalov won a shared first place
with style, and Kramnik had to struggle every move to achieve a fourth place."

On the Süddeutsche Zeitung story: "Was the article
in the German newspaper and the date of the game Topalov-Kramnik a coincidence?
The article in Suddeutsche Zeitung has no credibility. It’s 'proud'
author and close friend to Hensel, published it just a day after the official
establishment of the Grand Slam and just a day before Kramnik-Topalov’s
game. Mr. Martin Breutigam, instead of publishing nonsense, should have congratulated
Danailov for uniting the biggest chess tournaments in the world in an exciting
league and should have wished good luck to both players.

On Nigel Short: "It was sad that Nigel Short, the man
who shared food with Topalov in San Luis, attacked
him in such an ugly manner. An official excuse is still expected."

See also

11/28/2018 – The moment we've all been waiting for! Live games (for Premium members) from the 2018 World Championship match in London. Every two games will be followed by a rest day until Game 12 (if necessary) on November 26th which will be preceded by an additional rest day. All rounds start at 15:00 UT (London time) / 16:00 CEST / 10:00 EST. If needed there would be a rapid tiebreak match on Wednesday, November 28th. | Photos: Patricia Claros

See also

8/27/2018 – Live games and commentary from Saint Louis! Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian tied for first place, while Caruana also tied for fourth place in the Grand Chess Tour standings with Wesley So, forcing a playoff match to be held on Tuesday. | Graphic: Saint Louis Chess Club

Video

Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik liked to play the French and once described it as a 'difficult and dangerous opening'. But in this 60 minutes video IM Andrew Martin suggests an aggressive and little-used idea of the renowned attacking player GM Viktor Kupreichik to counter the French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black. Attacking players will love this line and the unusual complications that it promotes.

"Simple yet aggressive!" Enjoy this new exciting DVD by Simon Williams. Let the famouns Grandmaster from England show you how to gain a very exciting yet well founded opening game with the London System (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4).